The Copper Mountain superpipe is officially open and offering a glimpse of the future as top athletes from around the world are dropping in on their way to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. Most of the members of the U.S. Freeskiing and Snowboarding Half Pipe teams are shaking off any rust that may have gathered over a long summer as they share the pipe with an international field of stars preparing for the upcoming Sprint U.S. Grand Prix at Copper Mountain, Dec. 5-10. Until then, the rest of us can watch in amazement as these athletes boost high above the 22-foot pipe walls soaring toward their Olympic dreams. Mere mortals can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with top riders during the pipe’s open hours, watch from the lift or check in from the safety of cyberspace on Copper’s Center Village webcam.
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Former Western Hockey League star defenseman Stefan Elliott will be in the lineup when the Avalanche host the Edmonton Oilers tonight at the Pepsi Center. Elliott, who was called up from Lake Erie last night, will play in a six-man D corps. Matt Hunwick will be scratched.

Elliott, 20, could be exactly what the Avalanche lacks — a puck-skating, offensive-skilled guy from the back end. Not saying Kyle Quincey, Ryan Wilson and Erik Johnson (injured reserve) can’t do those things, but none of those guys put up the kind of numbers Elliott amassed in junior/college. He was a scoring machine, producing 241 points (82 goals) in 282 games with the Saskatoon Blades of the WHL.